Agents in the provinces take a much bleaker view of the prospects for 2001, as the Bacon measures continue to decimate the holiday homes market. In the south west, one leading agent has slashed prices by £20,000 to £50,000 yet there have been no takers because of the punitive level of stamp duty and the new annual tax on holiday homes. The dilemma facing country agents surfaced at last weekends's Bunratty knees-up organised by Sherry FitzGerald to entertain its franchisees. Many of them reported that Bacon has not only killed the holiday home scene but forced small builders onto the dole queue at a time when they should be busy. Peter Bacon's original motive was to encourage country builders to relocate to Dublin to help out with the shortfall in new houses, but the reality is that none of them can afford to buy the overpriced sites in Dublin, nor do they want to be subbies after working for themselves for many years.

The country agents are putting pressure on local TDs like never before to persuade Charlie McCreevy to pull back on the tax measures in the Finance Bill which is shortly to go before the Oireachtas. The country builders argue, with some justification, that they are being penalised for Dublin's problems. Over to you, Charlie.